The Flavor Unit is a

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

of emcees and DJs from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. It is now known as the Unit. The original version of the crew centered on producer

the 45 King Mark Howard James (born October 16, 1961) professionally known as The 45 King (also known as DJ Mark the 45 King), is an American hip hop record producer and disc jockey (DJ) from The Bronx borough of New York City. James began DJing in The Bron ...

. It was Mark's connections to radio personalities

DJ Red Alert Frederick Crute (born November 27, 1956), known professionally as Kool DJ Red Alert, is an American disc jockey who rose to fame on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM in New York City and is recognized as one of the founding fathers of hip hop music and cultur ...

and DJ Chuck Chillout that initially got the crew noticed, but the original members also all had formidable rhyme skills and wrote streetwise lyrics. The 45 King eventually fell into serious drug abuse and

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

took over the name; it became her umbrella organization. Flavor Unit Management is run by Latifah, one of the original members of the Flavor Unit, and Shakim Compere. Past management clients were Monica, Outkast,

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B ...

, Total,

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

, Almighty RSO (a group featuring Ray Dog, better known today as

Benzino Raymond Leon Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Ray Benzino, is an American urban contemporary, urban media proprietor, television personality, rapper, and record producer. He produced records (as part of the production t ...

Groove Theory Groove Theory is an American duo, with former member, singer-songwriter Amel Larrieux and songwriter/producer/actor, Bryce Wilson. The group is best known for their 1995 hit " Tell Me", which reached the top five of '' Billboard''s Hot 100 an ...

Monifah Monifa Carter (born January 26, 1972), also known as Monifah, is an American R&B singer. She is best known for her association with the late rapper Heavy D and her music from the mid-1990s, including "I Miss You (Come Back Home)", "You" and " ...

Gina Thompson Gina Thompson (born Lugenia Thompson in Vineland, New Jersey, on November 10, 1976) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. Born to Edward L. Thompson, Sr. and Eugenia Thompson, Gina Thompson began singing at an early age and was signed to ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

Zhané Zhané ( ) was an American R&B duo, best known for their 1993 hit " Hey Mr. D.J.", which reached No. 6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Other popular hits include " Groove Thang" (U.S. No. 17) and minor hit " Sending My Love", both released i ...

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up", " Where I Wanna Be", and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones' first studio alb ...

, and Naughty By Nature.

Members

Names marked with an asterisk denote artists who were managed by Flavor Unit but were not part of the original crew. *

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

(deceased) * Black Sheep* *

Channel Live Channel Live is an American hip hop duo composed of Vincent "Tuffy" Morgan and Hakim Green, which recorded for Capitol Records and Flavor Unit Records. Discovered by KRS-One, the duo released its debut album, ''Station Identification'', in 199 ...

* *

Chill Rob G Robert Frazier (born May 15), known professionally as Chill Rob G, is an American hip hop artist from Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. Career Chill Rob G's first hip hop collaboration was being part of the original version of the Flavo ...

The 45 King Mark Howard James (born October 16, 1961) professionally known as The 45 King (also known as DJ Mark the 45 King), is an American hip hop record producer and disc jockey (DJ) from The Bronx borough of New York City. James began DJing in The Bron ...

Freddie Foxxx James Campbell (born March 27, 1969), better known by his stage names Freddie Foxxx and Bumpy Knuckles, is an American rapper and music producer from Long Island, New York. Biography Foxxx got his start rapping in the early 1980s. In 1986, he ...

* *

Lakim Shabazz Larry Welsh, also known as Lakim Shabazz is a former hip-hop emcee artist who was one of the founding members of the original version of the Flavor Unit crew. His stage name refers to the so-called Lost Tribe of Shabazz, which is based on th ...

* Latee *

DJ Cee Justice A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Lord Alibaski Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

* Naughty by Nature* *

Nikki D Nichelle Strong (born September 10, 1968), known by her stage name Nikki D is an American rapper. Career Strong signed with Def Jam in 1989 and released her debut single "Lettin' Off Steam" the following year. It was produced by Sam Sever. The ...

* *

* Rowdy Rahz* * Storm P* *

Discography

* 1990: ''The 45 King presents The Flavor Unit'' ( Tuff City) * 1993: ''Roll Wit The Flava'' * 2000: ''Flavor Unit 10th Anniversary'' (Flavor Unit Records)Allmusic
/ref> * 2002: ''The Unit: 100% Hater Proof'' (Flavor Unit Records)

References

{{Authority control Hip hop collectives East Coast hip hop groups Queen Latifah